The Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday arrived in Ayodhya for a two-day visit, to seek the darshan of Lord Ram and participate in the 'Dharma Sabha' arranged by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
Thackeray will seek the blessings of saints and address a rally at Lakshman Quila at 2.30pm. The Shiv Sena supremo is scheduled to visit the makeshift Ram Temple at 9 am on Sunday.
In his visit, he is expected to attend several events, batting for the early construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The leader said that he would use the slogan 'Pehle Mandir, fir Sarkaar'.
Around 4000 Shiv Sena members will join Thackeray in Ayodhya, have already reached Ayodhya in two special trains from Thane and Nashik. Police sources said there would be over two lakh people converging on Ayodhya on what is now being called the 'Super Sunday'.
State police has sounded an alert, fearing law and order problem during the VHP’s Dharam Sabha on Sunday. This is expected to be the largest gathering in the town since 1992, when thousands of Kar Sevaks had razed the Babri Masjid.
What is worrying the security agencies, insiders say, is the fact that many VHP and even the ruling BJP lawmakers have openly threatened a "repeat of 1992" on Sunday. Beria (Barabanki district) legislator Surendra Singh has publicly said that if things do not move fast towards an early announcement of the Ram temple, "they will not hesitate in taking law in their hands".
The Yogi Adityanath government is treading with caution. On the one hand, the government has said that "Ram bhakts" can gather in Ayodhya and perform rituals, on the other, it has asked the police and the district administration to be extra vigilant.
The Shiv Sena has ademanded an ordinance or executive order for the construction of a Ram temple and claims it has the support of more than 400 members of Parliament cutting across party lines.
Thackeray had earlier announced that he would carry soil from Shivneri fort, the birthplace of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji near Pune district, to the temple town.
On Friday, ahead of the saffron camp in this temple town, Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sanjay Raut had created a flutter by saying when Babri Masjid could be demolished in 17 minutes, why it was taking so long for a law to build a temple there. "We demolished the Babri Masjid in 17 minutes but for paper work why it is taking so much time...for drafting a law or ordinance," he had told reporters.
Raut demanded that the government enact a law for "quick construction of a grand Ram temple" in Ayodhya.
A Shiv Sena leader, who is now camping in the temple town said: "From Rashtrapati Bhavan to Uttar Pradesh, there is BJP government. In Rajya Sabha there are a lot of members who support Ram temple."
This Ayodhya visit comes months after Shiv Sena's announcement that they will be contesting elections independently.
(inputs from IANS)